VIII of XIII
“… Berryville was contested territory Gus.”
“The frontier of Mosby’s Confederacy?”
“Right.”
“So Mosby rode through Berryville, for example.”
“Well, in fact, there’s a Berryville story in his memoirs.”
“What happened?”
“It was August of 1864.”
“Before or after the eleventh?”
“A week after.”
“Go on.”
“Yanks were gaining ground in the Shenandoah in order to pressure Richmond.”
“From the west?”
“Right.”
“And Berryville?”
“Roads cross in Berryville; the Union was holding it to protect its supply lines.”
“Holding? – How?”
“General Sheridan had his command there.”
“That’s holding.”
“If Berryville was the center of a clock – ”
“Okay.”
“– Twelve being north, that road connects to Charles Town and Harper’s Ferry.”
“John Brown area.”
“Correct.”
“The three o’clock road Reb?”
“That's Snicker’s Gap.”
“A must see.”
“It crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains.”
“Strategic.”
“Six o’clock has lots of villages and back roads; the main connecting town is Millwood.”
“And the Millwood road?”
“Another gap in the mountains: Ashby’s.”
“I see the significance.”
“And then nine o’clock is Winchester.”
“Morgan.”
“Right.”
“What did the Rebs do Johnny?”
“Attacked.”
“Sheridan in Berryville?”
“We bypassed Berryville and struck the rear, hitting wagons in a supply train.”
“Vital.”
“Right.”
“Did you just bust up the wagons or what?”
“Yes and no: we took 500 horses, 200 cattle, destroyed around 75 wagons and captured 200 Yanks.”
“How many partisans did that?”
“Couple hundred.”
“How?”
“Howitzer.”
“Cannon?”
“Yes.”
“Mosby had a howitzer?”
“One of his signatures.”
“Leaves a mark.”
“Funny thing is though, the attack almost didn’t happen.”
“Why?”
“We set the howitzer on a yellow-jacket’s nest.”
“Johnny Rebs a running?”
“Like the wind.”
“And then?”
“Then a Johnny rescued the howitzer from the hornets and fired a shot, which was the signal to attack.”
“I was rooting for the hornets Reb.”
“Of course.”
“And you say this Berryville story is in Mosby’s Memoirs?”
“It is Yank.”
*Next Up: Tuesday 21 November and Jesus of Nazareth, Miracles and Faith in Arendt Footnotes #9.
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner